N.C. bull rider J.B. Mauney claims PBR world championship

Monday

LAS VEGAS - J.B. Mauney of Mooresville completed a historic comeback to become the first North Carolinian to win the Professional Bull Riders Built Ford Series world championship Sunday.

Mauney, 26, trailed Brazilian and two-time reigning champion Silvano Alves by 3,056 points when the tour resumed in August from its summer break. Mauney went on a tear down the stretch, winning consecutive events in Grand Rapids, Mich., Fayetteville, and Hollywood, Fla., to end the regular season.

In the five-day, six-round World Finals at the Thomas & Mack Center this week, Mauney went 6-for-6 to win the event and the championship. His winnings for the week, including the world title bonus, were $1.35 million. He won four of the six rounds of competition at the Finals, and that helped give him a 977.75-cushion margin over Alves in the final season rankings.

"There's no better feeling," Mauney told pbr.com. "You dream of something all your life, and to eventually get it, oh, I mean, it feels like you've done conquered the world."

Mauney had twice finished second in the world (2008-09) and was third in 2007 and 2010.

Mauney is the first rider in the PBR's 20-year history to win four consecutive Built Ford Tough-sanctioned events. He's also the only rider with two perfect performances at the Finals; he went 8-for-8 in 2009 under a previous format. Mauney joins Mike Lee (2004) and Renato Nunes (2010) as the only riders to capture both the Finals and the series crown in the same year.

Shane Proctor, who is also from Mooresville and is Mauney's brother-in-law, finished in the top 10 at the Finals and in the year-long standings.

Another North Carolinian, Jeff Robinson of Mars Hill, was selected the PBR's top stock contractor, or bull provider, for the fourth consecutive year and received $15,000 for that honor.

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